Exclusive Interview
USL boss McDonough: New USL Jägermeister Cup format “about building excitement”
©USL/Transfermarkt
Last year, the United Soccer League launched the USL Jägermeister Cup for its USL League One clubs and after a successful first year, the tournament will be expanded this season to include clubs from the USL Championship. After announcing the expansion of the tournament, Transfermarkt sat down with USL president & CEO Paul McDonough to discuss the changes to the USL Jägermeister Cup, potential promotion and relegation, and the state of the United Soccer League heading into the 2025 season.
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P. McDonough
Age: –
USL Championship
“We trialed the Jägermeister Cup with the League One clubs last year,” McDonough said. “After we watched and evaluated the first year, the Championship owners seemed more inclined towards participating after we had multiple discussions with our sporting group.” That sporting group comprises representatives of Championship and League One owners, and after looking at the pros and cons, the decision was made to expand the tournament. “We were looking for something new and different than the status quo,” McDonough said.
USL Jägermeister Cup
Everything you need to know about the competition
As a result, the Jägermeister Cup will now feature all 38 teams playing in the USLC and USL League One. The format will be a World Cup-style tournament with six groups and matches played throughout the regular season. Having all 38 teams involved in a massive tournament throughout the regular season is undoubtedly a big undertaking. But the United Soccer League is confident that it will help both the United Soccer League and the sport, in general, grow in the United States.
McDonough: “It is no secret” that USL has “aspirations” to add promotion and relegation
The USL has undoubtedly gone to great lengths to ensure that the competition will succeed by trying to place teams together based on geography. “I think we can build on local rivalries,” McDonough said. “I think that’s going to be interesting for fans. That and that it is a cup competition with a champion at the end of it. Hopefully, that builds excitement across both leagues and will filter into the regular season.”
Could the tournament be a prelude to future promotion and relegation? “It is no secret that we have aspirations to do this,” McDonough said. “But it is more complicated to implement than people think. But when we talked to our owners, staying in the status quo wasn’t something we wanted to do. The Jägermeister Cup allows us to lean into one of our strengths, which is the size of our ecosystem, where we have teams all over the country across the two leagues and build something new and unique, and hopefully, that catches fire. But promotion and relegation would be a very different format to this.”
The Jägermeister Cup isn’t a trial balloon for promotion and relegation. Instead, the league hopes to add meaningful games for its clubs without putting too much strain on the players. “We got teams across the country, and it is a big country,” McDonough said. “It’s difficult for the players when they fly across the country, and it’s also difficult to budget. But when you have local teams from different leagues close by, you can save on the wear and tear of your players. You can play some younger players and don’t have to fly across the country.”
It also would help fans by providing more local matchups for away travel. “Hopefully, the fans of the Richmond Kickers will enjoy a match against Loudoun United rather than Loudoun having to fly across the country to play Monterey Bay. Hopefully, the local rivalry, when people can travel, makes those matches more intriguing. A good example is up in New England with Rhode Island and Hartford plus the new teams Portland Hearts of Pine and Westchester SC. That’s two teams from the Championship and two teams from League One. That could create some exciting rivalries. We are leaning into that, and hopefully, it will help the teams from a marketing standpoint.”
McDonough on USL expansion: “Trying to raise the standards of each of our leagues”
Speaking of Portland. The Hearts of Pines will be one of five new clubs in the USL League One this season. The other four are AV Alta FC, FC Naples, Texoma FC, and Westchester SC. Three teams have exited the league. While Lexington SC moved up to the Championship, last year’s Jägermeister Cup winner, Northern Colorado Hailstorm SC, and Central Valley Fuego folded.
The league, however, isn’t too concerned about the fluctuation in USL League One. “We are trying to raise the standard of each of our leagues,” McDonough said. “If that means we have to move on from owners and bring in more sophisticated owners, that’s better for the league. Just look at what is happening in Portland and how they are selling tickets; they are doing a great job. Or what is going on in Naples. We are excited about those teams that are coming in. Any time you can take from the bottom and add to the top, you are going to be stronger, and you are going to be better.”
While there has been some fluctuation with the USL League One, the USL Championship remained relatively stable. As mentioned, Lexington is new in the league. Memphis 901 is on hiatus and will continue playing in Santa Barbara as Sky FC in 2026. On top of that, Brooklyn FC, slated to kick off this year, will start their inaugural season in 2026. On top of that, the USL Championship made headlines in 2024 with the championship final between Rhode Island FC and Colorado Springs Switchbacks (0-3) being watched by more people on CBS than the MLS Cup final between the LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls (2-1) on Fox Sports.
USL: How to make CBS television numbers the norm?
The CBS television numbers have been spectacular for the USL. The game between Louisville City and Indy Eleven (5-3) on Apr. 6, 2024, was watched by 362,000 viewers. Detroit City versus Rhode Island (1-1) on Aug. 3, 2024 saw 283,000 people tune in and then finally the USL Championship final saw 431,000 people turn on their television sets.
How does the league plan to make them the norm? “That’s the goal,” McDonough said. “I applaud the Championship owners for putting those games on and investing the money into new stadiums. We have more ownership groups now looking into building stadiums. I mean, Louisville City are kind of our flagship club. They were the first to have their own stadium and training ground, and they have been successful since then. Sacramento Republic is a really strong club, and they are getting a stadium, which will improve their business. For their fans, they just became a better club. So yes, we are pleased with the trajectory of the league.”
USL Championship
The league at a glance
Then McDonough makes one crucial point. “Soccer can grow of the back of what’s going on in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Madison, Wisconsin, Louisville, Kentucky, Richmond, Virginia,” McDonough said. “That’s going to make soccer in this country better.” That point gets emphasized when the league president is asked about Major League Soccer trying to expand into USL markets. “Soccer in this country isn’t just going to be built in just 30 markets. The United States is as big as Europe, so there’s plenty of room for teams.”
USL: Playoff attendance numbers are up
Is there no concern then that the MLS is pushing for markets like Indianapolis, where the USL Championship has a strong club in Indy Eleven? “It is the nature of the beast,” McDonough said. With that in mind, McDonough isn’t too concerned about an ever-crowded marketplace. “The television numbers are up,” McDonough said when asked about a slight decline in stadium attendance in 2024. “Stadium attendance is down across the board for most sports, except for college football and the NFL. But we are happy overall. While the attendance numbers are slightly down, our revenue is up.”
MLS Expansion
A glance at all potential markets
Overall, 2,124,290 people attended USL Championship games in 2024 for a regular season average attendance of 5,219. Furthermore, while regular season attendance is slightly down, attendance for the playoffs was actually up. On average 7,021 fans turned up for playoff games in 2024, which is a 9.8% increase from the 2023 season.
The United Soccer League feels it is in a strong position heading into the 2025 season. “I am happy where we are and where we are going the next five years,” McDonough said. “Hopefully, the Jägermeister Cup is the next step of our evolution. We hope it is exciting and well attended and that we can continue to grow from that, and that it becomes a part of our strategic initiative for the future. We are considering our strategy over the next five to ten years.” So, what is the five-year plan for the league? “That will be revealed in due time,” McDonough concludes the interview with a laugh.